Hungary based mobile network, Pannon says that it recently commissioned the country's first wind-powered base station. The village of Kálló in Nógrád County offers suitable wind conditions throughout the year, meaning the wind generator can contribute up to 50% of the base station's power demand.

Kálló's average wind velocity of 5 to 6 m/s (18 km/h) creates optimum conditions for the tower-mounted wind generator. The equipment generates about 5,000 kWh of power per year which is sufficient to cover about 50% of the base station's annual demand.

"Every year, we spend significant amounts of money on finding sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions both for office work and telecom operations", said Dr. Gyo"zo" Drozdy, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Pannon. "The country's first wind-powered base station fits well with our sustainability strategy based on renewable energy sources and environmentally friendly technologies used in our new office building."

In 2000, Pannon was the first Hungarian operator to use free cooling to cool transmission rooms to significantly reduce the environmental impact of its base stations. The company seeks to use renewable energy sources in line with local conditions. In August 2008, Pannon commissioned its first solar-powered base station in Baracska.

Pannon made a commitment to reduce its annual CO2 emissions by 24% by 2011. As 75% of its total emissions are generated by power consumption from the national grid, installing wind- and solar-powered base stations and increasing the share of renewable energy sources are major steps towards reaching this goal.

Posted to the site on 21st April 2009

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